Yeah, but that implies they still have cache. If that's the case, they aren't holding grudges against certain players because they miss the old days. They are holding grudges against players because they are just generally miserable people to start with. Which I guess takes me back to my original post. I'm not saying Quick isn't being a petty jerk looking for payback, but just because we don't like Quick and Ayton is our guy doesn't change the fact that here's a 7-foot, 250-pound multimillionaire who is new to the market looking to some 5-6 guy at his side as a shield for a very legitimate question that he just could have answered directly or answered more artfully. Sometimes a skilled reporter might ask a question as much to gauge a reaction as to get an answer. Ayton's reaction, one could say, might have done a lot to reinforce the word coming out of Phoenix and the narrative dogging him around the league that he's not really willing to take on the harder tasks to be great. I mean, he's basically passing off a really soft question to Average Joe because he's chafed by it. Also, as a journalist, we have a job to get honest answers and inform the public. I don't go into press conferences wanting to clash with players and coaches. I would love to write a quality story without controversy and go home. Sometimes, though, that responsibility thing gets in the way of that. If someone dodges a question, a good journalist has a job to try to get the answer some other way. That includes asking the same question in a slightly different way or pointing out to the interview subject that that wasn't an answer.
My gossip comment was more in general. But every person is different. Id prefer to focus on the future and not the past. With that said, Some things Ayton says are suspect to me, so i do get your point.
After the disaster covering of GpII Toradol injections by Sham, the lack of Blazers coverage during the season, I can see myself cancelling my subscription to The Athletic. And as a journalist myself I am happy to support good journalism. But its a massive disappointment now.
Several games ago Ayton was trying to talk to Ant on the bench during a t/o. Ant simply waved off his comments and dismissed him completely. Ant did the exact same thing last night on the court as they were returning from a timeout.
I don't know how much I'm paying (I think it's super-cheap, and if it's not, I'll bounce) but I get value by going there and rating and commenting on the articles. Not that I have conversations there or anything, but after having news broadcast to me from so many media outlets, it's nice to give SOME feedback. Does that make the journalism better? No. But it's something. I also enjoy the fantasy football coverage they do, but the reality is I can get more info from YouTube (albeit in video form) and that would not be enough to keep my subscription alone.
I may be wrong, but … I don’t expect an Ayton trade … Or a 3-guard lineup of Scoot, Simons, and Sharpe that works even in the opinion of Blazers’ management … Or Scoot or Sharpe getting traded instead of Ant being traded … And so I do expect Scoot, Sharpe and Ayton as 3 of the core moving forward. With Grant at 30 in a month, he’ll still be in his early 30s when the younger dudes are ready for the playoffs in 2-3 years. BUT will he be the right fit at that time? My guess is no. But I could be wrong. I hope Ayton’s game matures with consistent, elite rebounding and scoring at the hoop.
Also, it is very nice, that broken core is nice for people outside the court, but his attitude can jump over on Scoot and Sharpe and then we are fucked from the very beginning.
